Three generations of the same family, who died in a horrific head-on crash on the N2 near Mtunzini on Friday afternoon were on their way to Jozini to celebrate their daughter’s birthday.
But instead of a memorable weekend getaway, 10-year-old birthday girl Rachel Cullinan suffered an untimely and premature death along with her mother Melanie (34), grandmother Heather (63) and close friend of Rachel’s – Cheyenne Dickson.
The four occupants from Waterfall, Hillcrest were travelling in a Kia that reportedly had a tyre blowout near Bridge 6 about 2km from the Mtunzini Toll Plaza.
According to officials combing the scene on Friday, this may have caused the vehicle to veer onto the oncoming lane, slamming into a huge SPAR delivery truck at approximately 4.30pm. Emergency and rescue personnel worked tirelessly to extricate the bodies from the mangled wreckage while the stretch of road remained closed for about an hour causing heavy traffic backlogs on both lanes. On Sunday, Melanie’s family members from Australia arrived in Durban to join distraught family members.
‘We are devastated and are in shock. This family was so loving, kind and caring. Now they are gone. We are heartsore,’ a grieving family member told the Zululand Observer.
Messages
For Zululanders, who witnessed the horror crash, they resorted to posting touching messages of condolences on the ZO Facebook page within minutes of the accident.
‘What a tragedy. Yet another truck involved. Condolences to the family. May their souls rest in peace. Another sad day for Zululand. Something has got to change,’ said Enver Pillay.
In light of the tragedy, Zululanders have also questioned the dangerous road marking on that particular stretch of road near Bridge D.
‘The overtaking line extends to the bridge! Someone who does not know the danger would start to overtake – but the oncoming lane splits into two at the bridge. This means slow cars that were being held up will now accelerate. A person would drive straight into fast oncoming traffic. This is a disastrous piece of road marking!’ said a concerned motorist.
Nongoma tragedy
Meanwhile on Saturday night, tragedy struck again when another eight people were killed in a head-on collision between two motor vehicles on the R618 between Nongoma and Vryheid.
On Sunday morning, provincial spokesperson for the Department of Transport Kwanele Ncalane said they had sent a team of investigators to the scene to ascertain the cause of the accident.
‘Seven people died on the scene and another person passed away later in hospital. The MEC has sent condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. The MEC has further assigned a departmental delegation to interact with local authorities to initiate the process of assisting the families.’
